Washington (CNN) - An independent Republican group that was a major player in the midterm elections says its goal is to raise $120 million this election cycle.

In a statement Tuesday, American Crossroads and Crossroads Grassroots Policies Strategies (Crossroads GPS) said the money raised will pay for advocacy efforts "to compete with the torrent of outside money from unions and left-leaning groups."
The organizations also announced what it calls a new "Presidential Action Fund," a new initiative which it says will be dedicated to shaping issues and themes in the 2012 election cycle. A release says the fund will conduct research, polling, micro-targeting, issue advocacy, and getting out the vote efforts.

"You can't outspend the unions – but you can out compete them with a faster and leaner organization that offers more bang for the buck. That is what the Crossroads groups plan to do in 2012," says Jonathan Collegio, communications director for the two organizations.

American Crossroads, a 527 organization that must disclose its donors, and Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) group, which in not required to disclose its contributors, raised more than $70 million combined in last year's midterm election cycle. The groups were created with the help of Karl Rove, the political adviser to former President George W. Bush, as well as former Republican National Committee chairmen Ed Gillespie and Mike Duncan, to supplement Republican party efforts in the midterms. Democrats criticized Crossroads' efforts for accepting funds from undisclosed donors.

The groups recently announced that they were going up with radio ads in 22 House districts in the battle over the federal budget, targeting 12 House Democrats for voting against a House Republican bill to fund the government from March through October, and praising ten GOP representatives for voting in favor of the legislation.

The ads were American Crossroads' second big ad buy of the cycle. Last month, the group also spent nearly $100,000 to run radio spots in 19 House GOP districts where the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee went up with ads attacking those Republican lawmakers for voting to cut education and research funding.

soundoff(24 Responses)

Matt Townsend

He said:
"You can't outspend the unions – but you can out compete them with a faster and leaner organization that offers more bang for the buck."

LIAR!!! Except that you are WAY outspending the unions. In the top ten spending in 2010, unions were only 3 and the highest was at Number 5 spot. Politicians on the right don't even bother to try have some shame when stating clearly known falsehoods.

March 1, 2011 12:26 pm at 12:26 pm |

carrotroot

"Remember Wisconsin!"

Obama 2012

March 1, 2011 12:31 pm at 12:31 pm |

Claudia, Houston, Tx

I guess they didn't get the message, House Speaker Boehner is working on the Defense of Marriage Act and not the budget or jobs.

March 1, 2011 12:34 pm at 12:34 pm |

OneMoreTime

Your United States Supreme Court at work.

March 1, 2011 12:36 pm at 12:36 pm |

mm

What gets me is they use falsehoods that are so easily checked .... I know their people won't check but surely they'd know that independents and democrats would.

March 1, 2011 12:40 pm at 12:40 pm |

Tony in Maine

Outspending the left is not too difficult if you're the Koch boys and their acolytes.

The only way the left is going to be a threat to the right is when the middle class wakes up and realizes they are the serfs living in shacks and doing the bidding of their masters for overpriced offal from the company store. The right, who like to brush off everything as cyclical should remember the late 1700's and what's happening in the Middle East right now.

March 1, 2011 12:40 pm at 12:40 pm |

A Real American

Stop using my tax dollars to keep subsidizing military members' cushy tri-care insurance plan! They are public employees. I don't see why they don't have to sacrifice like we in the private sector have had to.

March 1, 2011 12:47 pm at 12:47 pm |

once upon a horse

hey RNC couldn't that money be better spend trying to create jobs for the American people? Oh sorry I keep forgetting that job creation would lead to lower unemployment and a better economy which could all but assure Obama gets re-elected and the GOP just can't have that now can they?

March 1, 2011 12:52 pm at 12:52 pm |

ArmyCSM

Shame. Shame. They do not know of any. It didn't work in 2008 and it will not work in 2012. You teaparty Folks and Replublicans just hate too much. Just too much.

March 1, 2011 12:53 pm at 12:53 pm |

DemoCommunists for a Better Way - Bankruptcy

Great idea! Why should the unions and leftists own the airwaves with their lies and smears? Get the truth out there!!

March 1, 2011 12:53 pm at 12:53 pm |

Sniffit

"You can't outspend the unions – but you can out compete them with a faster and leaner organization that offers more bang for the buck."

Riiiiight...you know, except if you're Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Walmart, Sears Roebuck, Target, Exxon, BP, GE, Eli Lilly, Monsanto, AIG, BlueCross BlueShield, Koch Industries, NewsCorp, Haliburton, Boeing, Mobile, etc. etc. ETC. 1% of this country controls 40% of the country's income, wealth and and assets. The next 19% control another approximately 50% of it. That's right: 20% CONTROLS 90%. And guess what? THE VAST VAST MAJORITY OF THAT ELITE 20% IS NOT UNION LABOR AND WANTS YOU TO BE UNDER THEIR THUMB...I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT. Their wealth and assets have increased 281% since 1979 while it's remained stagnant for the middle-class that entire time. THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM. THEY WANT MOOOOOORE AND COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE IT FROM YOU.

501(c)(4) = CORPORATE PROXY LOBBY. Plain and simple. No accoutability for public political speech/spending = LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES. They're terrified you'd boycott their products and refuse to work for them if you knew just how much they were spending to disseminate misinformation, lies, fear and anger in order to get a significant portion of the public to vote against their own interests. Someone needs to get a bill on the table NOW to take away that secrecy. We'll see just how "grassroots" this Crossroads garbage is then....astroturf nonsense...they're giving our political system turf toe and if we're not careful we'll find ourselves unable to juke the onrushing corporatocracy. It's a freekin joke that people even buy into their BS....a sad one at that.

BTW: "As a Wisconsin resident and voter, I am still waiting for a call to be "polled." Luckily we have binding polls, aka ELECTIONS where my opinion does count. "

Yeah, and polls show that WI would not elect Walker if an election were held right this moment...the percentages have done an almost exact flip-flop in favor of his opponent compared to the percentages he won with this past Nov. Recalls are in the works. It's just too bad it has to wait something like a year for it to happen according to WI's statutes.

March 1, 2011 12:57 pm at 12:57 pm |

concerned liberal

The Dems & Repubs & Obama are posturing over and over to look good for some election timeline or other.

It is like children quarreling about who looks cooler on the deck of a sinking ship.

Where are the JOB'S BLOCK HEADS.......you all ran on everything but the Child OF GOD during the election all you RepulicNO party are doing is sinking the USA in the MUD!!!!!! Obama told us so!!!!!! Becareful what you ask for...HAAAA so NOW WHERE????? Are the Tea Party FOLKS now sense the RepublicNo party want to take there checks and the Trailers and Guns. And there little Tea bag Hats HAAAA LORD Help US.....

March 1, 2011 01:04 pm at 1:04 pm |

Emerson

Just what America needs to advance the debate of serious issues more lies and propoganda from Herr Rove and his greedy puppet masters. Why is there always a bad stench around when the name Rove is mentioned?

March 1, 2011 01:12 pm at 1:12 pm |

Anonymous

Stop all spending on advertising in elecetions- force the media which operates with a license that includess they offer a public forum, to GIVE each candidate a set amount of time for their campaign and be done with it. These groups are all corrupt, our politicians should be working, not raising money and we hate watching all the ads anyway!

March 1, 2011 01:12 pm at 1:12 pm |

papanez

The GOP is filled with idiots whose only agenda is to keep the rich rich and big business running everything. They wrap themselves up in the flag, patriotism, and their determination to destroy unions and the middle class. Get real, GOP.

March 1, 2011 01:19 pm at 1:19 pm |

Gaylon Barrow

Did you people see the news picture where the Democrat congressmen were playing soilitaire, facebook & watching NASCAR while the GOP was presenting their thoughts on budget cuts. The Democrats do not intend for the Budget to get passed.

March 1, 2011 01:26 pm at 1:26 pm |

Four and The Door

carrotroot
"Remember Wisconsin!"
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Yeah, where Obama came to the aid of his masters in the union instead of the taxpayers. It became obvious who he is working for and it's not the citizens.

Romney 2012! Someone who will work for the American taxpayer and not special interest groups!

March 1, 2011 01:27 pm at 1:27 pm |

james Miller

When the Repubs were talking about jobs during the last elections, I thought they were "creating' jobs, not killing jobs. But why am I not surprised !!!!! It`s comforting to know millionaires are safe under the Repubs` budget-----–

March 1, 2011 01:37 pm at 1:37 pm |

American

Referring to Karl Rove's 527 as "grassroots" or "independent" is an oxymoron. His far-right special interest is overwhelmingly funded by only a few billionaires.
More Koch Bros' double-speak and corruption.

March 1, 2011 01:49 pm at 1:49 pm |

bill

The reason politicians spend so much money during elections is because you have to spread the crap around. The thicker the better.
Fifty years of presidential elections and promises I learned one thing, presidential faces change and that is the extend of it.
So you all left wingers, right wingers and centrist, in 2012 you will be covered with crap money can buy.

March 1, 2011 02:08 pm at 2:08 pm |

Chas in Iowa

Carl Roves little propoganda group is having the same impact as Carl Roves offices on K street did during the GWB era and it isn't looking good for middle class America.
Carkl has the unique ability to make people rip their own ba!!s off and still proclaim they like it.

March 1, 2011 02:16 pm at 2:16 pm |

diridi

Remember, didn't GOP thugs send you DVD of Islamic terror, when Obama ran...????? look, what happened Obby won with thumping majority....truth wins....GOP play all pranks, tricks, to get elected, once elected, they go to war...to raise defense contracts....they send you to war...after two or three years, serving, if you are alive, they give you war-money....they you go to Florida, to play gulf....kids suffer...truth...truth...